Lot 56. Petit pot couvert en grès émaillé céladon, Vietnam, Thanh Hoa, XIIe-XIIIe siècle. H. 13 cm. Estimation: 150 € / 200 €. Photo: Hôtel des Ventes Giraudeau

le couvercle orné d'une ligne incisée. 

Belle Vente Mobilière chez Hôtel des Ventes Giraudeau, 37000 Tours, le 17 Février 2018 à 14h00

Lot 1210. A small Ming-style blue and white cylindrical jar, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 4 in. (10 cm.) high. Estimate USD 18,000 - USD 25,000. Price realised USD 22,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The cylindrical body is decorated in underglaze blue with simulated 'heaping and piling' with lotus sprays set within a star-pattern formed by ten rhomboid petals and reserved on a complex geometric pattern-ground, between a band of flower scroll on the shoulder and a band of crested waves above the foot, box.

Provenance: Sotheby's Paris, 18 December 2012, lot 49.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 2601. A large 'famille-rose' ruby-ground birthday dish, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820); 38.9 cm., 15 3/8 in. Estimate 200,000 — 250,000 HKD. Lot Sold 764,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

the shallow rounded sides sitting on a splayed foot and rising to an everted rim pierced with a band of circular holes, decorated to the centre with a diaper patterned lantern, encircled by four smaller tasselled lanterns alternating with four lotus blooms on dense meandering stems within a border of linked pendant and beads in the cavetto, the holes on the rim outlined in gilt and strapped together with iron-red twine, between lotus and ruyi-head borders, the underside similarly decorated, with a raised blue enamel keyfret encircling the foot, all reserved on a rich ruby-red ground, the base turquoise with a central square reserved in white for the base for the six-character seal mark in iron-red.

Provenance: A Private Japanese Collection.

Note: See a similar example from the Weishaupt Collection illustrated in Gunhild Avitabile, From the Dragon's Treasure, London, 1987, pl.21; other ruby-ground birthday dishes sold in these rooms 19th November 1986, lot 268; 10th April 2006, lot 1741; and in our New York rooms, 3rd July 1992, lot 257.

Also compare a turquoise-ground birthday dish, from the Collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in these rooms, 30th October 2002, lot 258; and another, 9th October 2007, lot 1501. 

Related dishes are also known without the open-work at the rim; see a slightly smaller yellow-ground dish with this painted decoration illustrated in Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, Taipei, 1991, vol.5, pl.27 top; and another dish of this design with a lime-green ground included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, vol.II, Tokyo, 1981, pl.102.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 08 Oct 08. Hong Kong

Lot 2607. An unusual pair of 'famille-rose''Peach and Bat' dishes, seal marks and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 13.8 cm., 5 1/2 in. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 HKD. Lot Sold 644,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

each of shallow rounded form resting on a short foot, painted on the centre with a peach sprig encircled by splashing crested waves, the sides decorated with five iron-red bats, each gripping a berriboned 'bajixiang' in its mouth, the underside decorated with three feathery lotus scrolls, inscribed on the base with the six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue .

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 08 Oct 08. Hong Kong

Lot 2652. A iron-red decorated 'Eight Immortals' bowl, mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 15.1 cm., 6 in. Estimate 450,000 — 550,000 HKD. Lot Sold 596,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

Lot 2575. A pair of copper-red 'Bats and Cranes' dishes, marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 15.8 cm., 6 1/4 in. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 HKD. Lot Sold . 200,000HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

Lot 2650. A wucai'Dragon and Phoenix' bowl, mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820); 14.8 cm., 5 7/8 in. Estimate 120,000 — 150,000 HKD. Lot Sold 200,000HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

Lot 2576. A small iron-red decorated 'Dragon' cup, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 6.3 cm., 2 1/2 in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 HKD. Lot Sold 62,500 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2008

Lot 3258. A ruby-ground famille-rose'Flower' bowl, Yuzhi mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 9.2 cm., 3 5/8  in. Estimate 1,000,000 — 1,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,240,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2013.

with shallow rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot, finely enamelled around the exterior with a variety of floral sprays clustered around the narrow footring, including peony, hibiscus, exotic lily, chrysanthemum, camellia, and aster, all reserved on a deep ruby-red ground, the interior and the base left white, the base further inscribed in underglaze blue with a four-character reign mark within double squares.

Note: This exquisitely enamelled pair of bowls belongs to a small group of wares made for the use of the Yongzheng emperor and bears the Yongzheng yuzhi marks. Two bowls of this design can be found in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and are illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum. Fine Enamelled Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty: Yung-cheng Period, bk. II, Hong Kong, 1967, pls 34-35. Another similar bowl, in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 5; one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is published in Rose Kerr, Chinese Art and Design, London, 1992, pl. 92 (right); a third from the T.Y. Chao collection was sold in these rooms, 18th November 1986, lot 130, and again, 5th November 1996, lot 87; and a pair of bowls was sold in these rooms, 9thOctober 2007, lot 1508.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 Oct 2013

Lot 3123.  A ruby-ground famille-rose'Floral' bowl, seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820); 9.2 cm., 3 5/8  in. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Lot Sold 750,000  HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2013.

with shallow rounded sides supported on a narrow footring, finely enamelled around the exterior with a lush variety of flower sprays clustered around the narrow footring or arching below the rim, including peony, hibiscus, lily, chrysanthemum, camellia, and aster, all reserved on a ruby-red ground of deep crushed raspberry tone, the interior and base reserved in white, the base further inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 1991, lot 285.

Note: A pair of bowls of this type was sold in these rooms, 20th November 1984, lot 412, one now in the Weishaupt collection, illustrated in Gunhild Avitabile, From the Dragon’s Treasure, London, 1987, pl. 26, and the other now in the Gruterich collection included in the exhibition Chinesische Keramik. Meisterwerke aus Privatsammlungen, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, 1988, cat. no. 139; another pair was sold in these rooms, 30th April 1991, lot 110; and a single bowl was sold in our London rooms, 12th December 1989, lot 436.

For the prototype of the decoration, see a Yongzheng ruby-ground bowl in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Chugoku tōji zenshū [complete works on Chinese ceramics], vol. 21, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 105; a slightly smaller example with a Yongzheng yuzhi mark, in the British Museum, London, published in Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 5; and another offered in this sale, lot 3258.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 Oct 2013

Unknown artist (Dutch School), The Paston Treasure, ca. 1663, oil on canvas, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, UK, courtesy of Norfolk Museums Service.

NEW HAVEN, CONN.- The Yale Center for British Art presents an exhibition featuring the enigmatic masterpiece The Paston Treasure (ca. 1663) in its North American debut. Organized in partnership with the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, UK, and on view from February 15 through May 27, 2018, The Paston Treasure: Microcosm of the Known World explores the world of the Pastons—a landowning family of Norfolk famous for their medieval letters—through a display of nearly 140 objects from more than fifty international institutional and private lenders. This exhibition includes five treasures from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that appear in the painting: a pair of silver-gilt flagons, a Strombus shell cup, two unique nautilus cups, and a perfume flask with a mother-of-pearl body, which are gathered together for the first time in more than three centuries. A host of other objects, many with Paston provenance, depict the story of collecting within the family from the medieval period until the moment of the making of the painting. This exhibition will subsequently travel to the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, where it will be on view from June 23 to September 23, 2018. 

Unknown artist (English), Pair of Flagons, 1598, silver gilt, cast, chased, engraved, and pricked, Untermyer Collection, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

“This painting is about distances, geographical as well as temporal. It is a complex and highly personal representation of the world as the Pastons saw it—a world of wealth and sensuality, which for the family, was not to last,” said Nathan Flis, one of the exhibition’s organizing curators (and Head of Exhibitions and Publications, and Assistant Curator of Seventeenth-Century Paintings at the Center). Like the painting, which captures in a microcosm the world as the Pastons knew it, the individual objects take us on journeys across time and place. The late sixteenth-century silver-gilt flagon decorated with shells and dolphins is held by the young man on the left side of the painting. In his other hand, he holds a mounted Strombus shell, an exotic species from the West Indies, which is tipped on its side. He exhibits for the viewer’s contemplation the open forms of both flagon and Strombus shell cup just as he, a person with dark skin originating from a distant place, and in all probability a slave owned by the Pastons, would have been the subject of curiosity and wonder for a European audience. 

The nautilus shells were harvested on the slopes of coral reefs in Southeast Asia (the part of the world most prominently displayed on the globe in the painting) and were then imported to the Low Countries, where they were transformed—polished to reveal their lustrous mother-of-pearl undersurfaces, which were often engraved, and their mounts shaped with mythological sea creatures. The body of the perfume flask on the far right of the painting was assembled in Gujarat from eight mother-of-pearl segments derived from the South Pacific green turban snail, and the shell flask was imported to London where it was given its metal mount and chains. All of these objects, and others in the exhibition that belonged to the Pastons, had fascinating subsequent provenances too; centuries later they found their way into the hands of collectors like the Rothschilds, J. Pierpont Morgan, and William Randolph Hearst. 

Attributed to Nicolaes de Grebber, Nautilus cup, 1592, Nautilus pompilius shell, silver gilt, glass, and enamel, Collection Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft, Acquired with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, courtesy of Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft.

The Paston Treasure was commissioned around 1663 by either Sir William Paston, first Baronet (1610–1662/63), or his son Robert Paston, first Earl of Yarmouth (1631– 1683). The identity of the painter, a Dutch itinerant artist working out of a makeshift studio at Oxnead Hall, remains unresolved, although candidates have been proposed. Adding to its mystique, the painting defies categorization because it combines several art historical genres: still life, portraiture, animal painting, and allegory. It has provided the opportunity to think anew about seventeenth-century studio practice, and the painterpatron relationship. 

Attributed to the workshop of Stephen Pilcherd and Anthony Hatch, Cup with strombus shell, ca. 1660, Lobatus goliath shell, brass, and enamel, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, UK, courtesy of Norfolk Museums Service.

“The Paston Treasure is the first painting to record accurately the richly diverse and internationally collected possessions of any English gentry family. It survives as the single most important visual document of a lost collection—that of the Paston family’s country house, Oxnead Hall in Norfolk,” said Andrew Moore, exhibition curator (and former Keeper of Art at the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery). The painting celebrates the multigenerational legacy of collecting, while providing only a glimpse of the family’s larger collection, which contained hundreds of such treasures: the seventeenth-century inventories describe dozens of mounted shells, ostrich eggs, and coconuts, in addition to pietre dure tables and cabinets, works of sculpture in bronze and marble, paintings and works on paper, books and manuscripts, gemstones, jewels, and a pair of crocodiles that hung in the hall at Oxnead. 

Unknown artists (Gujarati and English), Mother-of-Pearl Flask, first half of the seventeenth century, with mounts, ca. 1650–60, mother-of-pearl from the Turbo marmoratus (assembled in Gujarat), silver gilt (mounted in London), private collection, London, photo by Jon Stokes.

Likely initiated by the Tudor sea captain Clement Paston (ca. 1515/23–1598), who built the family’s primary residence, Oxnead Hall, the collection was further augmented by subsequent generations. William Paston traveled to Italy, Egypt, Palestine, and Jerusalem from 1638 to 1639 and returned to Oxnead with fascinating treasures from his world tour. A poem dedicated posthumously to Sir William, discovered among the Sloane manuscripts in the British Library in the course of research for the exhibition, celebrates his voyage and suggests the image of a restless spirit who continues his travels: 

“There is lacking in his treasure-house this one unique and everlasting gem: it is called eternal life. To purchase this, he sails under Christ’s auspices, to the market of the new Jerusalem.” In the crescendo moment of this exhibition, the “best closet” at Oxnead is partially reconstructed with a dense display of decorative arts objects, elaborate vessels, jewels, natural history specimens, musical instruments, and sculptures interspersed with paintings, miniatures, and drawings. 

Unknown artist (Florentine), Pietre dure tabletop, ca. 1625, with coats of arms, 1638, stone inlay, including lapis lazuli, red jasper, agate, and chalcedony, on a ground of black Belgian marble, private collection.

The final section of the exhibition re-creates Sir Robert Paston’s alchemical laboratory. An early member of the Royal Society and contemporary of Isaac Newton (1643–1727), “Sir Robert had an obsession for alchemy, particularly the imitation of natural substances, the production of painters’ pigments, and the search for the philosopher’s stone, or red elixir, a legendary substance capable of transmuting base metals into precious ones,” said Francesca Vanke, organizing curator (and Keeper of Art and Curator of Decorative Art at the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery). Robert’s book of alchemical recipes, on loan from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, is displayed alongside an Italian book of primarily medical recipes that belonged to his eldest child, Margaret Paston (1652–ca. 1723). Margaret assisted in her father’s laboratory as a girl and is believed to be depicted in The Paston Treasure. She immigrated to Venice in the 1670s and established her own alchemical workshop, specializing in pharmacology. 

Attributed to the Master of The Paston Treasure, Monkeys and Parrots, ca. 1660s, oil on canvas, Collection of Glen Dooley, New York.

Despite financial difficulties brought on by the English Civil War (1642–51), when their estates were sequestered by Oliver Cromwell’s (1599–1658) army, the Pastons continued to spend lavishly, their obsessive collecting leading to the point of ruin. Robert failed to transmute base metals into precious ones, and the family fortunes continued to decline. The collection was sold off within two generations of the painting’s completion, resulting in the worldwide dispersal of the treasures the organizers have regathered for this display. “The painting speaks to themes of wealth, continuity, knowledge, transformation, ambition, alchemy, survival and loss, and ultimately, a sad demise,” said Edward Town, co-organizing curator (and Head of Information Access, and Assistant Curator of Early Modern Art at the Center). 

Unknown taxidermist, Nile crocodile(Crocodylus niloticus), mid-twentieth century, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. 

Questions about the nature of The Paston Treasure itself—including who painted it and for what purpose—lie at the heart of this exhibition. Between 2005 and 2006, technical analysis was undertaken by Spike Bucklow, Reader in Material Culture, Cambridge University, with Jessica David, Senior Conservator of Paintings at the Center. Their examination included conventional X-ray, which revealed a spectacular series of pentimenti in the upper-right corner of the painting: a large silver dish originally incorporated in the composition was painted over with an (unidentified) lady, which was once more painted over with the quiet solution of the diamond-shaped clock. In April 2016, lingering questions about the structure of the painting and improvements in analytical tools led the Center and the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, in collaboration with the University of Catania, Sicily, to conduct a new campaign of stateof-the art technical analysis that revealed marked color transformation and fading in some parts of the painting, uncovering, to a certain degree, what The Paston Treasure looked like when it was fresh from the easel. The analysis also shed new light into the order in which parts of the composition were painted, as well as an unusually high number of pigment ingredients compared to contemporary still-life works. A film created for the exhibition, entitled The Paston Treasure: A Painting Like No Other, distills this data, helping audiences to understand how the painting was made and elucidating how the new research is invaluable in answering some of the riddles that have puzzled generations of scholars regarding the authorship and making of this strange and fascinating picture.

Attributed to the Master of the Legend of the Magdalen (Flemish), The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary or The Ashwellthorpe Triptych, ca. 1519, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, UK, courtesy of Norfolk Museums Service.

Lot 46. Emerald intaglio ring, mounting probably Chinese, 19th Century. Estimate  25,000 — 35,000 USD. Lot sold 33,000 USD. Photo Sotheby’s 2007.

The rectangular emerald intaglio carved with an inscription borderd by decorative elements, measuring approximately 20.0 by 17.0 by 3.4 mm., within a silver and gold mounting engraved with flowers and scrolls, mounting probably Chinese, 19th Century, size 6½. 

Note: The intaglio’s inscription mentions the name David Jolie (or Jolly) Burton and is dated 1200 (AD 1785-6). Although the mounting could conceivably have originated in China or Japan, it is more likely to be Chinese, made for an ex-patriot in Shanghai, due to the abundance of  trading activity between Shanghai and Calcutta in the 19th century.

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Lot 352. 74.95 carats Fancy Intense Yellow Diamond Pendant-Necklace. Estimate  Upon Request. Lot sold 2,056,000 USD. Photo Sotheby’s 2007

The cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut diamond of fancy intense yellow color weighing 74.95 carats, within an 18 karat gold prong mounting, supported on a chain of 18 karat gold, length 21 inches. 

Accompanied by GIA report no. 13376900 stating that the diamond is Fancy Intense Yellow, Natural Color, VS2 clarity.

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Lot 351. Superb 18.54 carats Colombian emerald and diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, New York, 1968. Estimate 700,000 — 900,000 USD. Lot Sold 1,888,000 USD. Photo Sotheby’s.

The emerald-cut emerald weighing 18.54 carats, flanked by 2 tapered baguette diamonds weighing 1.23 carats, mounted in 18 karat gold, size 5½, signed VCA, numbered NY 4144 SO. With signed box. 

PROPERTY OF THE HERBERT AND NELL SINGER FOUNDATION, CONTINUED

Accompanied by AGL report no. CS 38757 stating that the emerald is of Classic Colombian origin; insignificant gemological evidence of clarity enhancement present (oil type treatment).

In a letter dated August 9, 1968 Claude Arpels writes to Herbert Singer:

« The 18.54 cts square faceted emerald which you have just purchased through us, came originally from the collection of an Indian potentate known for his love of fine and unique gems.
I succeeded in purchasing it after many attempts during one of my many visits to India. In my opinion, it is one of the finest emeralds of its size and importance which I have ever seen in my jewelry career; its color, clarity and brilliance are absolutely unique for a stone of this size. »

Letters from Louis Arpels dated August 8, 1968 and from their consultant on this sale, R.V. Sullivan of Vartanian & Sons, Inc., dated July 31, 1968, also attest to the exceptional quality of the stone.

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Lot 363. Important 48.91 carats diamond pendant-necklace, Reza, Paris. Estimate 700,000 — 1,000,000 USD. Lot sold 1,552,000 USD. Photo Sotheby’s 2007.

Designed as a flexible collar continuously set with 192 baguette diamonds slightly graduating in size, weighing approximately 30.00 carats, supporting a pear-shaped diamond weighing 48.91 carats, surmounted by 2 trapeze-cut diamonds, mounted in platinum, length approximately 18 inches, maker’s mark and assay marks, pendant detachable. 

Provenance: The Magnificent Jewels of Florence H. Gould, Christie’s New York, April 11, 1984, lot 479.

Accompanied by GIA report no. 15664939 stating that the diamond is J color, VS2 clarity.

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Lot 348. 16.98 carats, D color, VVS1 clarity Diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, New York. Estimate 900,000 — 1,000,000 USD. Lot Sold 1,552,000 USD. Photo Sotheby’s.

The emerald-cut diamond weighing 16.98 carats, flanked by 2 tapered baguette diamonds weighing approximately .70 carat, mounted in platinum, size 4 ¾, signed VCA NY, numbered 4105 SO.  With signed box. 

Accompanied by GIA report no. 15678460 stating that the diamond is D color, VVS1 clarity; together with original working diagram stating that the stone may be potentially flawless. 

Originally purchased in 1965 from Harry Winston, the diamond weighed 18.55 carats and was certified on March 2, 1965 as D, Internally Flawless by GIA report no. NY 25468. In 1972, in order to enhance its brilliance, the diamond was re-cut by Lazare Kaplan & Sons to its current proportions and weight ,16.98 carats, and was recertified on May 17, 1972 as D, Internally Flawless by GIA report no. NY 662344. It was then re-mounted by special order by Van Cleef & Arpels, New York.

In a letter dated June 1, 1972 from Herbert Singer to Leo and George Kaplan, Mr. Singer comments:

« Nell is delighted, as am I, with the proportions of the ring and with its enhanced brilliance.
We are grateful to you for your wise advice and counsel. In expressing our gratefulness, it, of necessity, must extend to Dad not only for his impeccable judgment in a field in which he has attained world renown but, more importantly, for providing sons to whom he has imparted his skills, his standards of integrity and his dedication to excellence. »

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Lot 253. 33.45 carats VS2 clarity Fancy intense yellow diamond ring, Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 USD. Lot sold 745,600 USD. Photo Sotheby’s.

The cushion-shaped diamond of fancy intense yellow color weighing 33.45 carats, flanked by 2 triangular-shaped diamonds together weighing approximately 5.00 carats, mounted in platinum and 18 karat gold, size 6, signed Van Cleef & Arpels, numbered M41076, assay marks. With signed box. 

Accompanied by GIA report no. 10055795 stating that the diamond is Fancy Intense Yellow, Natural Color, VS2 clarity.

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Lot 360. 29.63 carats Colombian Emerald and diamond ring, Harry Winston, 1977. Estimate 350,000 — 450,000 USD. Lot sold 492,000 USD. Photo Sotheby’s.

The emerald-cut emerald weighing 29.63 carats, flanked by 2 tapered baguette diamonds, mounted in platinum, size 7½, signed Winston. With Winston box. 

Provenance: Property of Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Sotheby’s, New York, October 14, 1976, lot 232.

PROPERTY OF THE ERICH AND DELLA KOENIG FOUNDATION

Accompanied by AGL report no. CS 37211 (duplicate) stating that the emerald is of Classic Colombian origin; faint clarity enhancement (oil type treatment/Canadian balsam).

Sotheby’s. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 24 Apr 2007

Francisco de Goya (Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, 1746-Bordeaux, 1828), Blind Man's Buff, 1788. Oil on canvas. 269 x 350 cm. 

 BILBAO.- Having studied in Italy, Francisco de Goya (Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, 1746 – Bordeaux, 1828) moved to Madrid in 1775 and was first employed at the court of Charles III to work on the production of tapestry cartoons on hunting themes for El Escorial. Goya achieved recognition some years later when he was first appointed painter to the King (1786) then First Court Painter (1799). Despite this success at court, Goya maintained his connections with his native Zaragoza and his correspondence with his childhood friend Martín Zapater, offers proof of this ongoing relationship with his circle of friends and relatives while also providing crucial information on the progress of his career. The Prado's exceptional loan of 13 original letters offers the documentary counterpoint to Goya as court painter and this is in fact the essential argument of thE exhibition, which moves between Goya's success at the courts of Charles III and Charles IV and the persistent echoes of his origins through his continuing contact with those closest to him. 

Co-organised by the Museo Nacional del Prado, Fundación Bancaria "la Caixa" and the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Goya and the Enlightenment Court is on display to the public, having been seen at the CaixaForum, Zaragoza. Curated by Manuela B. Mena and Gudrún Maurer, Chief Curator and Curator in the Department of 18th-century Painting and Goya at the Museo del Prado respectively, this exhibition brings together 96 works, many of which (71, of which 52 are oil paintings and the rest documents and examples of the decorative arts) come from the Museo del Prado. 

The remaining works on display comprise 9 paintings from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum's own collection and further loans from the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico, the Museo de Zaragoza, the Fundación Colección Ibercaja, the Sociedad Ecónomica Aragonesa de Amigos del País and a number of private collections. 
In addition to the core group of canvases and cartoons by Goya, the exhibition also features works by other important 18th-century artists such as Luis Paret, Mariano Maella, José del Castillo, Luis Meléndez, Antonio Carnicero and Lorenzo Tiepolo, which together provide a context and also reveal the remarkable originality of Goya's work. Finally, the exhibition includes examples of the above-mentioned correspondence with Martín Zapater, in addition to miniatures, prints and examples of the decorative arts. 
In addition to extensive restoration carried out for to this exhibition, the research undertaken has revealed new information, reflected, for example, in the presentation of a new portrait and a miniature of Martín Zapater painted by Goya and by Francisca Ifigenia Meléndez respectively, as well as the attribution to Agustín Esteve of a copy of Goya's lost portrait of Ramón Pignatelli. 

Other new discoveries being seen in Bilbao include the recently restored portrait of Pantaleón Pérez de Nenín and the presentation in context of Luis Paret's remarkable View of Bermeo, a work recently acquired by the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. 

The exhibition 
1. "Zaragoza, my heart, Zaragoza, Zaragoza" 
Born in the small village of Fuendetodos, Goya grew up in Zaragoza where he lived with his parents and maintained a modest existence until 1775. In 1773 he married Josefa Bayeu, the sister of Francisco Bayeu, court painter to Charles III, and of Ramón and Friar Manuel Bayeu, who were also painters. Goya left for Madrid on the invitation of his brother-in-law Francisco in order to embark on the career at court to which he had aspired since his youth. 

Following his training in Zaragoza with José Luzán (1760-64) Goya made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a grant from the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid (1762), nor did he win the Academia's prize for painting in 1766. He left for Rome on a trip which he funded himself (1769-71) to study at the Drawing Academy. Having returned from there, at the age of 23 he obtained various important commissions such as the mural paintings in the choir of the basilica of El Pilar in Zaragoza and the decoration of the church of the Aula Dei Charterhouse. He also produced a significant number of religious paintings for various clients. 

Artists, architects, sculptors and aristocratic patrons as well as merchant friends and key figures in the economic ventures of the day such as Martín Zapater, Juan Martín de Goicoechea, Ramón Pignatelli and many others kept alive the artist's contacts with Zaragoza, which remained in his memory even in his final years in Bordeaux.  

2. Goya and Madrid, 1775. Hunting 
Having moved to Madrid with his family in 1775, Goya's first undertaking was to produce 9 tapestry cartoons of hunting scenes for the decoration of the palace at El Escorial. Goya himself enjoyed small game hunting ("the greatest sport in the world"), an enthusiasm which he shared with Martín Zapater, as revealed in the correspondence between the two men who enjoyed access to this activity, previously reserved for the royal family, the nobility and the clergy. 

This social change, in which the middle classes acquired greater importance, as they did in government at this period, is reflected in official portraits of the period and in paintings on hunting subjects such as Goya's cartoons, which include members of the more modest social classes ennobled through classicising references. In addition, hunting still lifes are now characterised by the realist depiction of the catch, which had had a more symbolic character up to this period.  

Francisco de Goya, Boys Climbing a Tree, 1791-1792, oil on canvas, 141 x 111 cm, (carton for tapestry for the office of Carlos IV in the palace area of the San Lorenzo de El Escorial). Museo Nacional del Prado.  

3. The Enlightenment court: meeting points 
Madrid reached a new peak in 1700 with the ascent to the throne of the Bourbon dynasty from France, which inherited the grandeur and modernity of Louis XIV. By the time Goya arrived at court there had been three Bourbon monarchs: Philip V and his children with María Gabriela de Saboya - Luis I and Ferdinand VI. By 1775 Charles III, son of Isabella Farnese, had assumed the throne. An enlightened monarch who surrounded himself with ministers with advanced ideas – Esquilache, Campomanes and Floridablanca – Charles continued the modernisation of Madrid and of the kingdom in general, developed its industry and trade and restructured the social classes, in which for the first time an emerging bourgeoisie appeared which enjoyed greater access to work. 

The arts were also encouraged by the crown at this date with the creation of the Fine Arts Academies and the invitation of artists and architects from abroad, including the sophisticated French portraitists Houasse, Ranc and Van Loo; Italian artists who specialised in mythological compositions, such as Giaquinto and Tiepolo; and the architects of the new Royal Palace, Filippo Juvarra, Giovanni Battista Sacchetti and, by the mid-century, Francesco Sabatini, as well as the architectural projects directed by Juan de Villanueva. Exquisite Rococo painters such as Flipart, Amigoni and Paret were succeeded by the Neo-classical Anton Raphael Mengs, who by the 1770s was in turn superseded by the new generation of Spanish painters, including the outstanding figure of Goya.  

4. Friendship and success 
Ten years after his arrival at court, Francisco de Goya was appointed painter to the King in 1786. In 1780 he had been made an academician of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and soon after that he left for Zaragoza to supervise the frescoes in the dome of the basilica of El Pilar. These were not a success and the committee of works obliged Goya to accept corrections by Francisco Bayeu. The humiliation of an artist who was already an Academician was considerable and 

Goya returned to Madrid, never working again in his native city. There were no further royal commissions at this point as they depended on Bayeu but the artist nonetheless prospered with the support of the Secretary of State, the Count of Floridablanca, of various other prominent figures such as the Infante Luis de Borbón and the Duke and Duchess of Osuna, and of intellectuals such as Jovellanos and Ceán Bermúdez.  

5. Female refinement in the 18th century 
The concept of "refinement", which emerged in Spain in the second half of the 18th century, was related to the idea of civilisation. It implied a desire for intellectual elevation through manners, habits and tastes, and manifested itself in the new social customs and in clothing. New activities became widespread, such as informal debating groups and soirées, celebrations, dances, the theatre and promenades, all of which allowed women to start to take their place in public spaces. In this context clothing played a key role, not only to give them visibility in society but also as a sign of civilised customs. These changes affected all levels of society which, thanks to the increasing democratisation of dress and the commercialisation of increasing accessibly priced textiles, began to resemble each other, which gave rise to a type of game of appearances which the unsuccessful idea of a "national dress" was intended to resolve. The portraits and scenes of everyday life in this section, played out by nobles, majos and dandies, reveal the evolution of fashion from the sophistication and decorative profusion of the Rococo to the simplicity of Neo-classicism with its revolutionary airs. 

6. Portraits of Basques and Navarrans 
Given that this is the first exhibition in Bilbao devoted to Goya's painting the museum has made a particular effort to present an additional section which reveals the connections between the court and the Basque Country between the late 18th and early 19th century. On display here are 11 portraits of Basque and Navarrans by Goya from this period, constituting a gallery of political, commercial and military figures of the day. They include Miguel de Múzquiz y Goyeneche, Marquis of Villar de Ladrón and Count of Gausa, who was Minister of Finance and the founder in 1782 of the Banco de San Carlos; General José de Urrutia, the only officer to achieve this military rank in the 18th century through merit rather than aristocratic birth; the paired portraits of Martín Miguel de Goicoechea and Juana Galarza de Goicoechea, Goya's parents-in-law, who were of Navarran origin; and the portrait of Leocadia Zorrilla, Goya's housekeeper in the last years of his life in Bordeaux. 

Between the still relatively conventional portrait of the Count of Gausa of 1783 and that of Joaquín María Ferrer y Cafranga of 1824, one of the artist's latest portraits, a remarkable psychological introspection emerges in addition to a significant artistic evolution that reveals Goya's authentic genius, individuality and invention.